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Week 10 — Day 1
36 Then, leaving the crowds, He went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, Make the parable of the tares of the field clear to us.
37 And He answered and said, He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;
38 And the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;
39 And the enemy who sowed them is the devil; and the harvest is the consummation of the age; and the reapers are the angels.
40 Therefore just as the tares are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the consummation of the age.
43 Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
This parable discloses that not long after the kingdom was established…with the sons of the kingdom, the wheat, that the sons of the evil one, the tares, grew up to alter the situation,…[having] formed the outward appearance of the kingdom, which today is called Christendom.
In Christendom there are millions of so-called Christians, but so many of them are not real believers. Let me illustrate this from my own experience. I was born of a Southern Baptist mother. She taught us the stories of the Bible; however, at that time, although she was for Christianity, she herself definitely had not been saved.…The professor of world history in the American Presbyterian college where I studied came from a Jewish background. He was a false believer, believing neither in the Bible nor in the resurrection of Christ.…Some of the missionaries in China were modernists. Among both the Methodists and the Presbyterians, modernistic missionaries taught the people that the Bible was a book of fairy tales.
In Matthew 13 we see a picture of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. (Please refer to the chart on pages [30-31, RcV].) The kingdom of God covers everything from eternity past to eternity future. Between the two eternities there is time divided into various ages or dispensations. The first is the dispensation before law.…The period of the Patriarchs, the fathers, extending to Moses.… Then comes the dispensation of law. Following this are two crucial dispensations, the first of which is the dispensation of grace, the church age, and the other, the dispensation of the kingdom, the millennium.…The kingdom of the heavens covers only these two dispensations. In the dispensation of grace there are a number of complications, for the kingdom of the heavens has three aspects: the aspect of reality [chs. 5—7], the aspect of appearance [ch. 13], and the aspect of manifestation [ch. 24]. As long as the church is normal, it is the reality of the kingdom. In a normal situation the church equals the reality of the kingdom. The third aspect of the kingdom, the manifestation, is in the heavenly part, the upper part, of the millennium.
The appearance of the kingdom of the heavens is today’s Christendom. It is dark, devilish, and even hellish, and we all must condemn it. Where are you? Are you in the appearance of the kingdom or in the reality of the kingdom?…All real Christians are in the church, but some…have become abnormal and defeated. You may say that you are neither in the world nor in Christendom, the appearance of the kingdom. You are in the church. But are you in the church in a normal situation or in an abnormal situation?…Thus, there are four classes of people: the normal believers, the abnormal [and defeated] believers, the false believers, and the worldly people.…We want to be real and normal believers, real sons of the kingdom who…grow Christ by living a life according to the constitution [of the kingdom of the heavens]. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 451-452, 457-460)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 451-452, 457-460; Hymns: #1301, #944
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 10 — Day 2
31 Another parable He set before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,
32 And which is smaller than all the seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches.
The Lord arranged the parables in Matthew 13 in a very good sequence. First we have the parable of the sower, who sows the seed to bring forth the constituents of the kingdom of the heavens. Then we have the parable of the tares sown by the enemy, the false ones among the constituents that cause the kingdom of the heavens to become Christendom. Following the parable of the tares, we have the parable of the mustard seed (13:31-32).
Verse 31 says, “The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed.” The fruit of the wheat in the first two parables and the fruit of the mustard seed here in the third parable are for food. This indicates that the kingdom people, the constituents of the kingdom and the church, should be like a crop that produces food for the satisfaction of God and man. Both wheat and mustard are good for food.…However, in both the second and third parables we see the thought of the evil one, the subtlety of Satan. The evil one came in to sow tares among the wheat. As any farmer can tell you, tares greatly frustrate the growth of the wheat because they exhaust the fertility of the soil which is meant to nourish the growing wheat. Because the soil has been exhausted, wasted, by the tares, the wheat cannot grow properly. We may apply this to our present situation.…Wherever there are many false believers, it is difficult for the real believers to grow in life. This is the subtlety of the enemy. As we will see, the subtlety of the enemy with respect to the mustard seed is to cause it to grow into a huge tree that is no longer good for food.
Verse 32 says that after the mustard seed has grown, “It is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree.” The church, which is the embodiment of the kingdom, should be like an herb that produces food. However, its nature and function were changed, so that it became a “tree,” a lodging place for birds. (This is against the law of God’s creation, that is, that every plant must be after its kind — Gen. 1:11-12.) This change happened in the first part of the fourth century, when Constantine the Great mixed the church with the world. He brought thousands of false believers into Christianity, making it Christendom, no longer the church. Hence, this third parable corresponds with the third of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the church in Pergamos (2:12-17). The mustard is an annual herb, whereas the tree is a perennial plant. The church, according to its heavenly and spiritual nature, should be like the mustard, sojourning on the earth. But with its nature changed, the church became deeply rooted and settled as a tree in the earth, flourishing with its enterprises as the branches in which many evil persons and things are lodged. This resulted in the formation of the outward organization of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens.
Verse 32 also says that the birds of heaven come and roost in the branches of this tree. Instead of producing foodstuff, this tree is a roost for birds. Because the birds in the first parable signify the evil one, Satan (vv. 4, 19), the birds of heaven in verse 32 must refer to Satan’s evil spirits with the evil persons and things motivated by them [see Rev. 18:2]. They lodge in the branches of the great tree, that is, in the enterprises of Christendom. The birds refer to the evil one and to evil persons, evil matters, and evil things — in short to all evil pertaining to the evil one. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 461-463, 465)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 461-466; Hymns: #945 (vv. 1-6, 12)
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 10 — Day 3
33 Another parable He spoke to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.
With the appearance of the kingdom, there are three items: the changed nature, the tares; the changed outward appearance, the façade, the big tree; and the inward rottenness and corruption, the leaven.…In the Scriptures leaven signifies evil things (1 Cor. 5:6, 8) and evil doctrines (Matt. 16:6, 11-12). [This brings us to the parable of the leaven.]
The church, as the practical kingdom of the heavens, with Christ, the unleavened fine flour, as its content, must be a loaf of unleavened bread (1 Cor. 5:7-8). However, the Catholic Church, which was fully and officially formed in the sixth century and which is signified by the woman here, took in many pagan practices, heretical doctrines, and evil matters and mixed them with the teachings concerning Christ, leavening the whole content of Christianity. This mixture became the corrupted content of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. This fourth parable corresponds with the fourth of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the church in Thyatira (2:18-29).…Meal, for making the meal offering (Lev. 2:1), signifies Christ as food to both God and man. Three measures is the quantity needed to make a full meal (Gen. 18:6). Hence, the hiding of the leaven in three measures of meal signifies that the Catholic Church has fully leavened in a hidden way all the teachings concerning Christ. This is the actual situation in the Roman Catholic Church. Such leavening is absolutely against the Scriptures, which strongly forbid putting any leaven into the meal offering (Lev. 2:4-5, 11).
The woman of Matthew 13 is the Jezebel of Revelation 2.…Eventually this evil woman will become the great harlot, called Babylon the Great, seen in Revelation 17.… After the papal system had been established, the many pagan practices which had been brought in were confirmed by that system. This is documented in Alexander Hislop’s book, The Two Babylons.
Leaven is something added to make things easy to eat.…Our natural being likes to use certain methods to make spiritual things easier to assimilate.…Not only the Catholic Church has taken in leaven, but the Protestant denominations and groups have also. Rock music and drama are types of leaven.…Using basketball for gospel preaching is also leaven.…So many things in Christianity are leaven. These include Christmas, Easter, idols, pictures, images,…and the entire YMCA system.…Whether or not people receive our word is a matter of the Father’s will. We do not want to use any gimmicks to help in our preaching. Every gimmick is leaven. We are not for a work or for a movement — we are for the testimony of Jesus.…In [preaching the gospel], building up the church, and spreading the Lord’s testimony, the only way is to pray and to minister the pure Word. In the eyes of God, any gimmick — anything other than Christ, the Word, prayer, and the Spirit — is leaven.
We must see the difference between the reality of the kingdom and the appearance of the kingdom. The reality is precious to God, but the appearance is abominable to Him. Therefore, we must treasure the reality and reject the appearance. We do not like the tares, the big tree, or the rottenness. We care for the pure wheat flour and the little mustard herb which are good for food. This is the church’s testimony, which is food to God and man.…Many of us can testify that we were hungry for years, but that once we came into the church, we were satisfied.…This is the Lord’s recovery, and this is the dining table. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 466-471)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 466-471; Hymns: #945 (vv. 1-8, 12)
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 10 — Day 4
44 The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid, and in his joy goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.
The first four parables [in Matthew 13] were given in the boat in the open air [to the crowds (vv. 2, 34)]. These are the parables of the sower, the tares, the mustard seed, and the leaven. The last three were given privately to the disciples in the house [v. 36].…This indicates that the things covered by these three parables are more hidden.
In each of the first four parables there was something related to eating. By this we see that the first four parables cover the matter of food. God’s intention is to have a people on earth to be the constituents of His kingdom, and these people must be like food that is good to satisfy both God and man. But the enemy came in….Here we see Satan’s subtlety. First, he sowed tares among the wheat to frustrate the growth of the wheat; second, he caused the mustard herb to grow abnormally and to lose its function; third, seeing that some wheat was produced to make fine flour for a loaf to satisfy God and man, Satan added leaven to the meal.
In the first four parables in Matthew we have the life growing, and in the next parable [v. 44] we have the treasure hidden in the field. The treasure must be made up of gold, silver, and precious stones, probably mainly precious stones. In the following parable [vv. 45-46] we find the pearl. The New Jerusalem is built with gold, precious stones, and pearl.…In the first four parables the Lord revealed the life that grows Christ into the kingdom. In the next two parables He revealed the matter of transformation for building. This brings us back to the basic thought of the Bible — life and building. The parables in Matthew 13 reveal the matters of life and building. Life is Christ Himself as the seed sown into our humanity. This life grows within us, growing Christ into the kingdom. The growing of this life eventually produces precious stones and pearls. After spending much time on Matthew 13, I found that its basic thought is the same as that of 1 Corinthians 3. In both chapters we have God’s cultivated land and God’s building.…If we are not impressed with this matter, we will not be able to understand the fifth and sixth parables.
The treasure hidden in the field [v. 44] must consist of gold or precious stones, the materials for the building of the church and the New Jerusalem (1 Cor. 3:12; Rev. 21:18-20). Since the church is the practical kingdom today, and the New Jerusalem will be the kingdom in manifestation in the coming age, the treasure hidden in the field must signify the kingdom hidden on God’s created earth.
The field in verse 44 is the earth created by God for His kingdom (Gen. 1:26-28). In the Bible the earth signifies the world created by God, and the sea signifies the world corrupted by Satan. The earth also signifies Israel, the Jewish nation, because Israel was chosen by God, separated by God, and placed by God in a specific situation. Hence, the Jewish people stand before God as the earth created by Him. Based upon the same principle, the sea also signifies the Gentile world, for the Gentiles are the people corrupted by Satan.
The man here [in verse 44] is Christ, who found the kingdom of the heavens in 4:12 to 12:23, hid it in 12:24 to 13:43, and in His joy went to the cross in 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19; and 26:1 to 27:52 to sell all He had and to buy the field — that is, to redeem the created and lost earth — for the kingdom…because within the earth there was the kingdom, the treasure. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 473-478)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 473-478; Hymns: #1242 (vv. 1-5)
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 10 — Day 5
45 Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking fine pearls;
46 And finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
The merchant in verse 45 is also Christ, who was seeking the church for His kingdom. After finding it in 16:18 and 18:17, He went to the cross and sold all that He had and bought it for the kingdom.…The pearl [v. 46], produced in the death waters (the world filled with death) by the living oyster (the living Christ), wounded by a little rock (the sinner), and secreting its life-juice around the wounding rock (the believer), is material for the building of the New Jerusalem. Since the pearl comes out of the sea, which signifies the world corrupted by Satan (Isa. 57:20; Rev. 17:15), it must refer to the church, which is constituted mainly of regenerated believers from the Gentile world and which is of great value.
According to Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem is built with precious stones and pearls. In other words, the New Jerusalem is a combination of the treasure and the pearl. In Matthew 13 these are two, the treasure in the field and the pearl out of the sea. But in Revelation 21…the New Jerusalem is both the kingdom and the church. In Matthew 16 the terms church and kingdom are used interchangeably [see vv. 18-19].…Ultimately, in the New Jerusalem the kingdom and the church become one entity.
At this point some may be asking the following question: Since the kingdom is the church and the church is the kingdom, what is the difference between them?…As the kingdom, we are something of the earth created by God and redeemed by Christ; and as the church, we are something out of the world corrupted by Satan and condemned by God. The treasure, the symbol of the kingdom, is concealed within the earth.…But the pearl, the symbol of the church,…is something produced out of the sea.
Among us in the Lord’s recovery there should be no sea [Rev. 21:1]. Instead of the sea, we should have the renewed earth.…If our conversation is filled with talk about worldly things, about money or the movies, it is a sign that we are filled with the things of the Satan-corrupted world. This is the sea. But if among us there is no gossip or criticism, but Christ, the church, and transformation, this is a sign that we are the new earth.…Transformation makes us pearls and precious stone, pearls for the church and precious stones for the kingdom.
The mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens encompass the main points of Christian history between the Lord’s first coming and His second coming. To interpret these parables properly, we need to take care of the facts of history.…What is there in history that can be regarded as the fulfillment of the treasure and the pearl? As I was considering this matter before the Lord, He showed me that in history…there have been the overcomers, who are more solid, genuine, precious, and valuable in the eyes of God than the wheat. In God’s eyes these overcomers are likened to the treasure hidden in the field and to the pearl out of the sea.…Those who are like this are not just the wheat, bulky in size and abundant in quantity; they are the transformed precious stones, smaller in quantity and hidden under the earth. Not many people can see them, but the Lord sees them.
Many saints…can testify that…during the years they have been in the recovery, they…are constantly being reduced, transformed, and made more solid.…This is more than a seed sown in a field to produce wheat; it is something that has become precious through the secretion of the life of Christ.…In the Lord’s recovery the quantity is small, but the quality is higher and more solid, because here we have the treasure and the pearl. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 478-482, 495-498, 500)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 478-482, 495-502; Hymns: #1242 (vv. 5-8)
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 10 — Day 6
47 Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a net cast into the sea and gathering from every species,
48 Which, when it was filled, they brought onto the shore, and sat down and collected the good into vessels; but the foul they cast out.
52 And He said to them, For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.
This [seventh] parable [vv. 47-48] corresponds with that in 25:32-46. The net here signifies not the gospel of grace, which is preached in the church age, but the eternal gospel [see Life-study of Revelation, Message Forty-seven, pp. 541-547], which will be preached to the Gentile world during the great tribulation (Rev. 14:6-7). The sea into which this net is cast signifies the Gentile world, and every species signifies all the nations, all the Gentiles (25:32). During the tribulation, Antichrist, who will oppose all religion, will persecute both Christians and Jews. Christ will consider these persecuted Christians His brothers. Because [of this persecution] an angel will be sent forth to proclaim the eternal gospel. The eternal gospel is absolutely different in content from the gospel of grace.…The eternal gospel…will say that men should fear God and worship Him. It will not touch the matter of repentance nor will it require faith. [Those who would]… persecute and kill…God’s people must hear that God will come in to avenge them.
Christ will judge the living at the time of His coming back. This will take place before the millennium. In addition to the Jews and the Christians,…a number [of unbelievers] will still be living at the time He comes again. These living ones will be the nations....The eternal gospel declared in Revelation 14 will be the basis for Christ’s judgment upon the living nations.…According to Matthew 25 [vv. 32-46], the King will judge the nations according to the way they have treated His little brothers…during the tribulation.…Those who treat the believers favorably will be regarded by the King as sheep. But those who do not treat them well will be regarded as goats. The goats [the foul, 13:48], will be cast into eternal fire, but the sheep [the good, 13:48], will be transferred to the millennium to be the citizens on the earth.
At the end of this chapter the Lord spoke an additional parable [v. 52].…After giving the seven parables concerning the mysteries of the kingdom, the Lord likened the discipled scribe to a householder who has a treasure, a rich store of things new and old, signifying not only the new and old knowledge of the Scriptures but also the new and old experiences of life in the kingdom. A scribe…in the Old Testament…knew the books of Moses and the prophets.…Such a learned one has been discipled into the kingdom of the heavens. Formerly he was a scholar of the Old Testament dispensation, but now he has been discipled into the kingdom of the heavens.…For this reason he is likened to a householder who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old. When the new things are put with the old things, we have the precious things. The apostle Paul was such a person. He was an Old Testament scribe who one day was discipled into God’s New Testament economy.
In giving this parable the Lord was expecting that some of His listeners would be scribes, not all fishermen….At the turn of the new economy, He had to go to Galilee to find the unlearned fishermen. But after the turn had taken place, there would be the need of some learned ones to carry out all the mysteries.…I hope that some of the young people will become scribes. For the Lord’s recovery today we need both the fishermen and the scribes. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 487-491, 493)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 487-493; Hymns: #816
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 10 — Prophecy
IV. The King’s being rejected (12:1—27:66)
B. The unveiling of the kingdom’s mysteries (13:1-52)
3. The abnormal development of the outward appearance of the kingdom (vv. 31-32)
4. The inward corruption of the outward appearance of the kingdom (vv. 33-35)
5. The establishment of the kingdom and its false constituents (continued) (vv. 36-43)
6. The kingdom hidden in the God-created earth (v. 44)
7. The church produced out of the Satan-corrupted world (vv. 45-46)
8. The eternal gospel and its result (vv. 47-50)
9. The treasure of things new and old (vv. 51-52)
Matthew 13 unveils the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, which today is called Christendom. With the appearance of the kingdom, there are three items: the changed nature, the tares; the changed outward appearance, the façade, the big tree; and the inward rottenness and corruption, the leaven.
Following the parable of the tares, the third parable is that of the mustard seed (13:31-32). Here, the enemy in his subtlety caused the mustard seed to grow into a huge tree — a lodging place for birds — that is no longer good for food. This is against the law of God’s creation, that is, that every plant must be after its kind (Gen. 1:11-12).
The fourth parable concerns leaven. In the Scriptures leaven signifies evil things (1 Cor. 5:6, 8) and evil doctrines (Matt. 16:6, 11-12). The Roman Catholic Church has fully leavened in a hidden way all the teachings concerning Christ. Our natural being likes to use certain methods to make spiritual things easier to assimilate. In the eyes of God, any gimmick — anything other than Christ, the Word, prayer, and the Spirit — is leaven.
In the fifth parable we have the treasure hidden in the field (v. 44). Christ redeemed the God-created earth because within the earth, the field, there was the kingdom, the treasure. The next parable reveals Christ as the merchant (v. 45) seeking the church for His kingdom. After finding it He sold all that He had and bought it for the kingdom. Since the pearl comes out of the sea, which signifies the world corrupted by Satan, it must refer to the church, which is constituted mainly of Gentile believers. In the first four parables the Lord revealed the life that grows Christ into the kingdom. In the next two parables He revealed the matter of transformation for building. The overcomers can be regarded as the fulfillment of the treasure and the pearl. Through their remaining under the secretion of Christ’s life, constantly being constricted, reduced and transformed, they are more solid, genuine, precious, and valuable in the eyes of God than the wheat.
The first six parables in Matthew 13 are related to the church. The seventh parable, the parable of the net, is related to the world, to the Gentiles. The net here signifies the eternal gospel which will be preached to the Gentile world during the great tribulation (Rev. 14:6-7). The nations are likened to fish in the sea. These “fish” are brought to the presence of the Lord, and the Lord exercises His judgment upon them according to the way they have treated the believers during the great tribulation.
In verse 52 the Lord spoke another parable. A learned one, a scribe, who has been discipled into the kingdom of the heavens is likened to a householder who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old. The apostle Paul was such a person. Today in His recovery, the Lord not only needs the fishermen, but some scribes full of knowledge for the carrying out of His New Testament economy.
Composition for prophecy with main point and sub-points:
